Toy cap gun with reciprocating barrel



June 27, 1961 e. LICITIS 2,989,314

TOY CAP GUN WITH RECIPROCATING BARREL Filed Dec. 15, 1958 F51 1 IO InvEnmr' E7 Gama/'5 L/c/f/IS j 7 JW, 4.44M, Mf

States WITH RECIPROCATING BARREL Gunars Licitis, 'Chicago, 111.,assignor to Marvin I. Glass, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Dec. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 780,356

Claims. (Cl.-4257) TOY CAP GUN exterior appearance to simulate an actualgun in repose,

but, besides. detonating caps, they do not simulate an actual gun inaction. Therefore, true realism has been previously lacking.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toygun which is adapted to detonate explosive caps. Another object is theprovision of a cap detonating toy gun which is adapted to simulate therecoil of an actual gun. Still another object of the present inventionis to provide a toy machine gun which is adapted to sequentially fire aplurality of explosive caps. Yet another object is the provision of acap detonating toy gun which is adapted to simulate the recoil andsmoking barrel of an actual gun. A further object is the provision of asimple and inexpensive cap detonating toy gun which can be economicallymanufactured and which will be durable in use. Y

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

- FIGURE 1 is a perspective viewof a toy gun embodying variousfeatures-of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side view of the toy gun shown in FIGURE 1,with portions broken away to show the internal construction of the toygun, the barrel of the gun being illustrated in a non-firing or cockedposition;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the toy gun shown in FIGURE 1,with portions broken away to show the internal construction of the toygun, the barrel of the toy being illustrated in a firing position;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side view of another embodiment of themounting arrangement of the toy gun shown in FIGURES 1 through 4. 7

Generally, the toy gun shown in the drawings comprises a housing 10 anda reciprocating barrel 12 disposed within the housing 10 which islongitudinally movable between a non-firing position and a firingposition. The barrel 12 is adapted to engage an explosive cap and causethe explosion thereof in its firing position. Means 14 are provided inthe housing for urging the reciprocating barrel 12 toward a firingposition. The housing 10 also contains means 16 for moving the barrel 12to its non-firing position. This reciprocation of the barrel whiledetonating a cap enhances the realism of the gun.

More specifically, the toy gun shown in the drawings simulates a machinegun, the housing 10 of which is provided with a cavity 11 in the forwardportion thereof. The exterior appearance of thehousing 10 is not animportant feature of the invention, and therefore, it may be constructedin any convenient manner. The housing 10 is made of a material th-at canwithstand the rough handling and shock a toy of this nature is subjectedto. In the illustrated embodiment the housing atent 2,989,814 PatentedJune 27, 1961 ree includes an elongated, generally cylindrical member18' which extends forwardly from the housing 10 and is guided thereinfor reciprocal movement. The barrel 12 extends through a suitableaperture 20 in the forward wall 22 of the housing 10, the aperture beingof such a size as to slidably engage the cylindrical member 18. Therearward end of the barrel 12 is guided by a ring shaped guide member24, which is concentrically disposed around the cylindrical member 18toward the rearward end thereof, the guide member being slidably engagedby a plurality of projections 26 extending inwardly into the cavity -11from the top, bottom and left and right side walls, 28, 30, 32 and 34,respectively, of the housing 10. Utilizing inwardly directed projections 26 to slidably engage the guide member 24 reduces friction, buthowever, the guide member 24 may be engaged around substantially all ofits perimeter without departing from the scope of the invention.

The barrel 12 is urged rearwardly by means 14, which in the illustratedembodiment, is a coil spring concen-. trically disposed on the barrel12. The rearward end of the spring 14 bears upon the forward surface ofthe projection 44 extending downwardly from the guide mem her 24, thecam 36 being designed so that the barrel 12 is moved to its forwardnon-firing position twice for each revolution of the crank 40. Ofcourse, the barrel 12 may be moved to its non-firing position once foreach revolution without departing from the scope of the invention. Whenthe barrel reaches its forwardmost position, the cam 36 is of such ashape that the barrel 12 is released thereby allowing the barrel 12 tobe moved rearwardly by the spring 14 to detonate an explosive cap, ashereinafter described.

The cap to be detonated is suitably positioned rearwardly of the barrel12 against a flat surface formed by a partition wall 46 extendingtransversely through the housing 10. A channel 48 is provided in thehousing 10 forwardly of the partition wall 46 to permit the cap to bepositioned on the partition wall 46. In order to engage the cap andcause the explosion thereof, the rear portion of the barrel 12 isprovided with a striker 50, which is made of a material not damaged byshock such as metal. The striker 50 comprises a tube having a rearclosure wall 52, the striker 50 being attached at its forward end to thecylindrical member 18. Suitable per.- forat-ions such as verticallyextending slots 64 are located in the rear wall52 of the striker 50, andthe cylindrical member 18 is provided with a bore 56 so that the smokeproduced by the explosion of the cap will escape through the barrel 12to thereby simulate the smoke of a gun.

A roll of caps c to be detonated are held in a magazine 68 suitablysupported on the right side of the housing 10 insuch a position as tofeed the rolled off end portion of the roll of caps c into the channel48 in the housing 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the magazine 68includes a vertically disposed tubular member 70 attached to anextension 72 of the housing 10. Centrally disposed in the tubular member70 is a vertically extending spindle 74 upon which the roll of caps c islocated. 50 that the rolled off end portion of the roll of caps may bethreaded through the channel 48 in the housing 10, a verticallyextending slot '76 is provided in the tubular member 70 ad jacent thechannel 48.

The strip of caps c is pulled through the channel 48 in the housing by apulling means '78 which is disposed on the left-hand side of the housing10. The pulling means 78 in the illustrated embodiment includes avertically disposed drum 80 which is journaled on a vertically disposedshaft 82 which, in turn, is supported by an extension 34 of the housing10. The drum 80 is provided with a plurality of horizontally extendingprojections 86 around its outer surface which are so spaced as to engagethe spaced apart perforations (not shown) in the strip of caps c.

The projections 86 are maintained in engagement with the holes in thestrip of caps c by an arcuate member 88 which is adapted to press thestrip of caps 0 against the drum 80. The arcuate member 88 has a channel90 cut in its inner surface for the passage of the projections 86 on thedrum 80. So that the perforations in the strip of caps c may be easilyengaged with the projections 86 the armate member 82 is pivotallymounted to the extension 84 of the housing 10 by a downwardly extendingprojection 92 which is journaled in a suitable aperture (not shown) inthe extension 84 of the housing 10. The arcuate member is biased towardits closed position by a tension spring 94 extending between theextension 84 and a downwardly extending projection 96 on the arcuatemember 8-8.

Suitable arcuate guides 98 and 100 are disposed on the extension 84rearwardly of the drum 80 to maintain the strip of expended caps c inthe vicinity of the drum 80. These arcuate guides 28 and 100 are spacedapart so as to form a slot 102 toward the rearward side of the gun toallow the expended caps c to emerge from the pulling means 78. Thearcuate guide 100' closer to the housing 10 may be provided with aninwardly directed wall 104 adjacent the slot 102 for aiding in thestripping of the expended caps c from the drum 80.

So that an undetonated cap 0 may continually be provided to be detonatedby the barrel 12, the drum 80 is intermittently rotated a distance equalto the distance between caps 0 each time the barrel 12 moves from afiring to a non-firing position. This is accomplished in the illustratedembodiment by a star wheel 106 attached to the lower surface of the drum80, the star wheel 106 being actuated by a pawl 108 carried by anL-shaped arm 110 which is attached to a lower flattened surface 112 onthe striker 50. The left-hand side wall 32 of the housing 10 is providedwith a slot 114 to allow for movement of the L-shaped arm 110.

The pawl 108, which is located in a channel 116 in the outer edge of theL-shaped arm 110 is journaled on a vertically disposed shaft 118 carriedby the arm 110, the pawl 108 being urged outwardly by a hairpin spring1220 hearing on the pawl 108 and on the inner surface of the channel116.

In the illustrated embodiment, each time the barrel 12 is movedforwardly the star wheel 106, and thus the drum 80 is rotated a quarterof a turn. To prevent the pawl 108 from causing a reverse rotation ofthe drum 80, the upper surface of the extension 84 of the housing 10 isprovided with circumferentially spaced teeth 122, as shown in FIGURE 4.

In the illustrated embodiment, the left-hand extension 84 and theright-hand extension 72 are integrally formed, as by casting, theextensions being interconnected by a pair of ribs 123. The ribs 123 areretained in a trans versely extending aperture 125 in the housing 10,the housing 10 illustrated being fabricated in a pair of the matingpieces 10a and 10b which are suitably interconnected.

So that the gun may be easily mounted on a tripod 132 as shown in FIGURE1, or a handle 134 as shown in FIG- 4 URE 5, a mounting member 124 issuitably attached to the bottom of the housing 10, as by screws 126. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the mounting member 124 includes a left andright side wall 136 and 133, respectively, and a forward wall 140.inwardly extending lips 142 are provided at the lower end of each of thewalls 136, 138 and 140 so as to thereby define a T-shaped slot 144 forthe reception of the tripod 132 (or handle 134).

A spring clip 146 is provided to retain the tripod 132 (or handle 134)in the slot 144, the spring clip 146 being mounted by one end to theforward wall 140, the other end of the spring clip 146 being offsetdownwardly so as to lock the tripod 132 (or handle 134) in place.

The tripod 132 in the illustrated embodiment includes a top plate 148 ofsuch a size as to be received by the slot 144. The tripod 132 may bemounted on a platform 150 composed of plastic or the like which isformed to simulate a machine gun position. In the embodiment shown inFIGURE 5, the handle 134 is provided to mount the machine gun, thehandle 134 including a top plate 148a adapted to be snapped into placein the slot 144. The exterior appearance of the handle 134 is not animportant feature of the invention, and therefore, it may be constructedin any convenient manner.

In operation, a roll of caps c is located in the magazine 70, and therolled off end portion of the roll of caps c is threaded through theslot 76 in the side of the magazine 70 through the channel 48, aroundthe drum 80, and then out through the slot 102. The arcuate member 88 isrotated away from the drum 80 to permit the perforations in the strip ofcaps c to be engaged by the projections 86. The machine gun is thenready for operation. By rotating the handle 40 the barrel 12 isreciprocated thereby simulating the recoil of a machine gun,sequentially exploding the caps c, and sequentially advancing new capsto a proper position. Smoke from the firing of the caps will emerge fromthe barrel 12 to enhance the simulation of a machine gun.

From the above it can be seen that the present invention provides amachine gun which simulates the firing of an actual machine gun to ahigh degree. Not only are the caps sequentially fired to simulate theexplosions of machine gun bullets, but the barrel recoils and smokes asan actual machine gun barrel would.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the above described toygun without departing from the scope of the invention. Various of thefeatures of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. claims.

I claim:

1. A toy machine gun comprising a housing, a forwardly extendingreciprocating barrel on said housing which is longitudinally movablebetween a forward nonfiring position and a rearward firing position,said barrel being adapted to engage a cap and cause the explosionthereof in said firing position, spring means on said housing urgingsaid reciprocating barrel rearwardly toward said firing position, andcam means on said housing for cyclically moving said barrel to saidnon-firing position and releasing said barrel therefrom whereby a cap isexploded in timed relation to the reciprocation of said barrel.

2. A toy gun comprising a housing, a forwardly extending reciprocatingbarrel on said housing which is longitudinally movable between a forwardnon-firing position and a rearward firing position, the barrel having abore extending longitudinally therethrough, said barrel having its rearend formed to provide a striker adapted in said firing position toengage a cap to cause an explosion thereof, and also to provide apassageway connecting the explosion area with said bore so as to directthe smoke caused by the explosion of a cap through said barrel, meansurging said reciprocating barrel rearwardly toward said firing position,and means on said housing for cyclically moving said barrel to saidnon-firing position and releasing said barrel therefrom.

3. A toy gun comprising a housing, said housing having an aperture inthe forward wall thereof, and a channel extending transversely throughsaid housing, a forwardly extending reciprocating barrel extendingthrough said aperture, said barrel being longitudinally movable betweena forward non-firing position and a rearward firing position, saidbarrel having a striker on its rearward portion which is adapted toengage a cap disposed on the rearward Wall of said channel and causesthe explosion thereof in said firing position, a guide memberconcentrically disposed on the portion of the barrel within saidhousing, said guide member being slidably engaged by a portion of saidhousing, a spring means concentrically disposed on said barrel andhearing between the inner surface of the forward wall of said housingand said guide member for urging said barrel toward a firing position, ahand crank journaled in said housing and rotatable by the user toactuate said gun, a cam fixedly disposed on said hand crank and adaptedto engage said guide member so as to cyclically move said barrel to saidnon-firing position and then release said barrel, said barrel having abore extending between the rearwardmost portion thereof and theforwardmost portion thereof whereby the smoke created by the explosionof a cap is directed through said barrel.

4. A toy gun comprising a housing, said housing having a channelextending transversely therethrough, a forwardly extending reciprocatingbarrel on said housing which is longitudinally movable between a forwardnonfiring position and a rearward firing position, said barrel beingadapted to engage a cap disposed on the rearward wall of said channeland cause an explosion thereof in said firing position, means urgingsaid reciprocating barrel rearwardly toward said firing position, meanson said housing for cyclically moving said barrel to said nonfiringposition and releasing said barrel therefrom, a

magazine on said housing adapted to rotatably hold a rolled strip ofcaps so that the rolled off end portion of the strip of caps is inproper feeding relation to said channel, and means on said housing forpulling the rolled off end portion through said channel in timedrelationship to the movement of said barrel, said pulling meansincluding a vertically disposed drum having a plurality of spaced-aparthorizontal projections on the outer surface thereof which engageapertures in the strip of caps, a star wheel attached to the lowersurface of said drum, and pawl means connected to said barrel andengageable with said star Wheel to rotate the drum a predeterminedamount so as to position an unexploded cap on the rearward wall of saidchannel each time the barrel is moved to its non-firing position.

5. A toy gun comprising a housing, a reciprocating barrel on saidhousing which is longitudinally movable between a nonfiring and a firingposition, a strip of caps, said barrel being adapted to engage one ofsaid caps and cause the explosion thereof in said firing position, meanson said housing for urging said reciprocating barrel toward said firingposition, means on said housing for cyclically moving said barrel tosaid nonfiring position and releasing said barrel therefrom, and meanson said housing which is actuated by said barrel, as said barrelreciprocates, to move an unexploded cap into position to be engaged andexploded by said barrel, whereby the explosion of said caps takes placein timed relation to the cyclic reciprocation of said barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,306,577 Carlson June 10, 1919 1,794,411 Lalumiere Mar. 3, 19312,457,921 Riederich Jan. 4, 1949 2,684,554 Sigg July 27, 1954 2,814,144Brown et al. Nov. 26, 1957

